System for automatic recognizing license number of other vehicles on observation vehicles and method thereof

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a system and method for automatically recognizing a license plate number of a subject vehicle in use of a surveillance vehicle, which mounts automatic license plate number recognition equipment including a camera to a vehicle such as police patrol car, security company car, taxi, and so on, recognizes the license plate of a different vehicle on the run or in parking or stopping through the camera, verifying whether the vehicle is stolen, in search, or has a forged license plate, and can deal with the vehicle early when the vehicle is in question.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to vehicle recognition system and method.

More particularly, the present invention relates to system and methodfor automatically recognizing license plate numbers of subject vehiclesusing a surveillance vehicle, which can recognize a license plate numberof a subject vehicle on the run or in parking or stopping in use of acamera installed in the surveillance vehicle, detect whether the vehicleis one stolen, in search, or having a forged license plate, and takeearly actions on a vehicle in question.

BACKGROUND ART

A conventional vehicle recognition (vehicle surveillance) could beperformed through a monitoring camera installed on main roads, as weknow, or a policeman or a guard could ascertain the vehicle recognitionin a wireless manner after verifying a vehicle number, vehicle color, orthe like by his eyes.

However, identifying a vehicle in such a manner has a problem in thatthere is no way but inevitably recognizing a limitation of a certainextent. That is, monitoring cameras installed on main roads have aproblem in that many of them are revealed since they are fixed at theirpositions, and also have a problem in that lots of time is required,even though a monitoring camera catches a vehicle in question at aposition, to bring the vehicle under arrest through the catching of thecamera and a distance exists between arrest personnel and the vehicle inquestion.

Further, the case that personnel such as road police, supervisionpersonnel, and the like do a direct surveillance has a problem since itis basically impossible to do an incessant surveillance and it isdifficult to do a perfect surveillance during the surveillance.

Furthermore, there exists a problem since it is hard to grasp whether,upon instantly discovering a vehicle, it is hard to grasp whether thevehicle is one in question and, even though a vehicle in question isdiscovered, a practical use is not easy since it is difficult to makeevidence documents.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the presentinvention to system and method for automatically recognizing licenseplate numbers of subject vehicles in use of a surveillance vehicle,which can acquire information on a subject vehicle on the run or inparking or stopping from a surveillance vehicle equipped with a camera,grasp whether the subject vehicle is in question through a database, andtake early actions on a subject vehicle in question.

In order to achieve the above object, a system according to the presentinvention comprises the surveillance vehicle having a camera forphotographing license plate information of the subject vehicle on therun or in parking or stopping, a surveillance part for extracting alicense plate number of the subject vehicle based on data photographedthrough the camera, receiving result data on whether the subject vehicleis one in question from a server computer-verifying whether the subjectvehicle has a problem based on the extracted license plate number of thesubject vehicle for notifications to a driver or a passenger incharacters or by voice, and a portable communication device fortransferring the license plate number of the subject vehicle extractedfrom the surveillance part through a communication network; and theserver computer for periodically receiving information on vehicles invarious questions such as theft or search from computers of processinginstitutions such as police, junked vehicle management agencies,district offices, and so on, which control and manage vehicles throughthe communication network for building a database, and, if the licenseplate number of the subject vehicle is received from the portablecommunication device equipped in the surveillance vehicle via thecommunication network, comparing the license plate number of the subjectvehicle with the vehicle information stored in the database foridentifications on whether the subject vehicle is in question, andtransferring result data on whether the subject vehicle has a problem tothe portable communication device equipped in a correspondingsurveillance vehicle.

Further, another system according to the present invention comprises thesurveillance vehicle having a camera for photographing license plateinformation of the subject vehicle on the run or in parking or stopping,a surveillance part for extracting the license plate number of thesubject vehicle based on data photographed via the camera, comparing theextracted license plate number of the subject vehicle with informationon vehicles in question which is stored in a database for verificationson whether the subject vehicle is in question, notifying a driver or apassenger in characters or by voice of result data on whether thesubject vehicle is in question, and recording discovery of a vehicle inquestion if impossible to notify a server computer of notification of aresult on whether the subject vehicle is in question, and a portablecommunication device for receiving information on vehicles in questionwhich is periodically updated from the server computer and transferringto the server computer through the communication network information onthe subject vehicle verified as a vehicle in question if possible tonotify the server computer of a result as to whether the subject vehicleis in question; and the server computer for periodically receivinginformation on vehicles in various questions such as theft and/or searchfrom computers of processing institutions such as police, junked vehiclemanagement agencies, district offices, and so on, which control andmanage vehicles through the communication network for building adatabase, transferring the information on vehicles in question which isperiodically updated to the portable communication device equipped ineach surveillance vehicle through the communication network, and storingin the database the information on the subject vehicle verified as avehicle in question which is received from the portable communicationdevice equipped in the surveillance vehicle through the communicationnetwork.

Further, yet another system according to the present invention comprisesthe surveillance vehicle including a camera for photographing licenseplate information of the subject vehicle on the run or in parking orstopping, a surveillance part for extracting the license plate numberbased on photographing data of the subject vehicle, and notifying adriver or a passenger in characters or by voice of result data onwhether the subject vehicle is in question which is received through aportable communication device from a server computer verifying whetherthe subject vehicle is one in question based on the extracted licenseplate number, and the portable communication device for transferring thephotographing data of the camera through a communication network to theserver computer; and the server computer for building a database for theinformation on vehicles in various questions such as theft and searchwhich is periodically provided from computers of processing institutionssuch as police, junked vehicle management agencies, district offices,and so on, which control and manage vehicles through the communicationnetwork, extracting the license plate number of the subject vehiclebased on the photographing data received from the surveillance vehiclethrough the communication network, verifying whether the subject vehicleis in question in comparison of the extracted license plate number ofthe subject vehicle with the information on vehicles in question whichis stored in the database, and transferring result data as to whetherthe subject vehicle is in question to the portable communication deviceequipped in the surveillance vehicle for a surveillance vehicle driver'sor a passenger's verifications

Further, a method according to the present invention comprises steps of(1) recognizing the subject vehicle on the run or in parking or stoppingwhich is located in a photographing range of a camera mounted to thesurveillance vehicle, and photographing the subject vehicle inclusive ofits license plate through the camera; (2) extracting the license platenumber of the subject vehicle based on photographing data of the subjectvehicle photographed by the camera; (3) transferring through a portablecommunication device to a server computer the license plate number ofthe subject vehicle which is extracted in the surveillance part equippedin the surveillance vehicle; (4) inputting, if the server computerreceives the license plate number of the subject vehicle from thesurveillance vehicle, up-to-date information on vehicles in questionfrom related processing institution computers based on whether adatabase provided for grasping whether the subject vehicle is inquestion is valid, and updating the database; (5) verifying by theserver computer whether the subject vehicle has a problem in comparisonwith the information on vehicles in question stored in the databasebased on the license plate number of the subject vehicle which isreceived from the surveillance vehicle; (6) notifying, by the servercomputer, the surveillance vehicle that the subject vehicle is not onein question, if it is verified that the subject vehicle is not one inquestion; (7) determining, by the server computer, whether thesurveillance vehicle can deal with the subject vehicle if it is verifiedthat the subject vehicle is one in question; (8) notifying, by theserver computer, the surveillance vehicle that the subject vehicle isone in question to deal with the subject vehicle in question, if thesurveillance vehicle can deal with the subject vehicle in question; and(9) notifying, by the server computer, a related processing institutioncomputer of the information on the subject vehicle to deal with thesubject vehicle, if the surveillance vehicle can not deal with thesubject vehicle in question.

Further, another method according to the present invention comprisessteps of: (A) recognizing the subject vehicle on the run or in parkingor stopping which is located within a photographing range of a cameramounted to the surveillance vehicle, and photographing the subjectvehicle inclusive of a license plate thereof through the camera; (B)extracting a license plate number of the subject vehicle based onphotographing data of the subject vehicle photographed by the camera;(C) receiving up-to-date information on vehicles in question which isprovided to a related processing institution computer from a servercomputer, after the extraction of the license plate number of thesubject vehicle, according to whether a database provided for graspingwhether the subject vehicle is in question is valid, and updating thedatabase; (D) comparing the information on vehicles in question which isstored in the database based on the license plate number of the subjectvehicle extracted from a surveillance part equipped in a surveillancevehicle and verifying whether the subject vehicle has a problem; (E)outputting characters or a voice, if the subject vehicle is not one inquestion, notifying from the surveillance part equipped in thesurveillance vehicle that the subject vehicle is not one in question fordriver's or passenger's identifications; (F) determining whether thesurveillance part equipped in the surveillance vehicle can deal with thesubject vehicle if the subject vehicle is one in question; (G)outputting characters or a voice, if the surveillance vehicle can dealwith the subject vehicle in question, notifying from the surveillancepart equipped in the surveillance vehicle that the subject vehicle isone in question to enable a driver or a passenger to deal with thesubject vehicle in question; and (H) notifying the related processinginstitution computer from the surveillance part equipped in thesurveillance vehicle of information on the subject vehicle through aportable communication device, if the surveillance vehicle can not dealwith the subject vehicle in question, to enable dealing with the subjectvehicle in question.

Further, yet another method according to the present invention comprisessteps of (a) recognizing the subject vehicle on the run or in parking orstopping which is located within a photographing range of a cameramounted to the surveillance vehicle, and photographing the subjectvehicle inclusive of a license plate thereof through the camera; (b)transferring through the communication network to a server computerphotographing data of the subject vehicle photographed by the camera;(c) extracting a license plate number of the subject vehicle based onthe photographing data if the server computer receives the photographingdata of the subject vehicle from the surveillance vehicle; (d)receiving, by the server computer, up-to-date information on vehicles inquestion from a related processing institution computer according towhether a database provided for grasping whether the subject vehicle isin question is valid, and updating the database; (e) comparing, by theserver computer, the information on vehicles in question which is storedin the database based on the license plate number of the subject vehicleand verifying whether the subject vehicle has a problem; (f) notifying,by the server computer, the surveillance vehicle that the subjectvehicle is not one in question, if the subject vehicle is not one inquestion; (g) determining, by the server computer, whether thesurveillance vehicle can deal with the subject vehicle if the subjectvehicle is one in question; (h) notifying, by the server computer, thesurveillance vehicle that the subject vehicle is one in question, toenable the dealing with the subject vehicle in question, if thesurveillance vehicle can deal with the subject vehicle in question; and(i) notifying, by the server computer, the related processinginstitution computer of information on the subject vehicle, if thesurveillance vehicle can not deal with the subject vehicle in question,to enable the dealing with the subject vehicle in question.

At this time, the above step (a) can be replaced with a step ofphotographing license plate information of the subject vehicle on therun or in parking or stopping by a driver, a passenger, or a movable(portable) camera bearer of the surveillance vehicle who uses a movable(portable) camera, and downloading to a surveillance part photographingdata of the subject vehicle after a connection of the movable (portable)camera to the surveillance part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above object and other features of the present invention will becomemore apparent by describing in detail a preferred embodiment thereofwith reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view for showing a structure of a system for automaticallyrecognizing a license plate number of a subject vehicle in use of asurveillance vehicle according to each embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a view for showing a method for automatically recognizing alicense plate number of a subject vehicle in use of a surveillancevehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a view for showing in detail a structure of the servercomputer of FIG. 1 according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for the method for automatically recognizing alicense plate number of a subject vehicle in use of a surveillancevehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 to FIG. 8 are flow charts for showing in more detail routines forautomatically recognizing a license plate number of a subject vehicle inFIG. 4;

FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are views for showing in more detail internalstructures of a surveillance vehicle and a server computer according toa second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart for showing a method for automaticallyrecognizing a license plate number of a subject vehicle in use of asurveillance vehicle according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are views for showing in detail internal structuresof a surveillance vehicle and a server computer according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 14 is a flow chart for a method for automatically recognizing alicense plate number of a subject vehicle in use of a surveillancevehicle according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

BEST EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, each embodiment of the present invention will be describedin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a view for showing a structure of a system for automaticallyrecognizing a license plate number of a subject vehicle in use of asurveillance vehicle according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system for automatically recognizing a licenseplate number of a vehicle according to the present invention comprises asubject vehicle 100, a surveillance vehicle 200 equipped with a devicefor automatically recognizing a license plate number of a vehicle, acommunication network 300 for transferring information, a servercomputer 400 for managing, storing data related is to an automaticlicense plate number recognition and performing data communications withthe surveillance vehicle 200, and computers 500 of processinginstitutions such as police, junked vehicle management agencies,district offices, for controlling and managing vehicles.

The surveillance vehicle 200 has a camera 210 for photographing thesubject vehicle 100 on the run or in parking or stopping inclusive ofinformation on its license plate, a surveillance part 220 for extractinga license plate number of the subject vehicle 100 based on the dataphotographed through the camera 210, receiving result data on whetherthe subject vehicle is in question form the server computer 400 whichverifies whether the subject vehicle is in question based the extractedlicense plate number of the subject vehicle, and a portablecommunication device 230 for transferring through the communicationnetwork 300 to the server computer 400 the extracted license platenumber of the subject vehicle 100 from the surveillance part 220.

At this time, for the surveillance vehicle 200, police patrol cars,security company cars, taxis, and so on, on operation are used.

Further, two methods as follows can be used when the camera 210 mountedin the surveillance vehicle 200 photographs a license number plate ofthe subject vehicle 100.

First, a camera photograph method based on automatic sensing is used.That is, it uses a method that a sensor (not shown) attached to thecamera 210 or located in a different place from the surveillance vehicle200 senses and photographs a subject vehicle (or a license platenumber).

Second, a photographing method by a driver or a passenger of thesurveillance vehicle 200 is used. That is, it uses a method that adriver or a passenger in the surveillance vehicle 200 discovers thesubject vehicle 100, presses a photographing switch, and gets the camera100 receiving the photographing switch operation to photograph thesubject vehicle 100.

The server computer 400 is periodically provided with information onvehicles in various questions such as in theft or in search from thecomputers 500 of the processing institutions such as police, junkedvehicle management agencies, district offices, and so on, through thecommunication network 300 for building a database, if a license platenumber of the subject vehicle 100 is received from the portablecommunication device 230 equipped in the particular surveillance vehicle200 through the communication network 300, compares the vehicleinformation stored in the database with the license plate number of thesubject vehicle 100 for verifying whether the subject vehicle 100 is inquestion (that is, theft, search, or forged license plate, and thelike), and transfers result data on whether the subject vehicle 100 isin question to the portable communication device 230 (for example,Trunked Radio System (TRS) terminal, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA),or the like) equipped in the surveillance vehicle 200.

At this time, the above server computer 400 determines whetherprocessing can be done in the surveillance vehicle 200 if the subjectvehicle 100 is verified as one in question upon verifying whether inquestion with the comparison of the information on vehicles in variousquestions such as thief, search, and so on, stored in the database basedon the license plate number of the subject vehicle 100 received from theportable communication device 230 equipped in the particularsurveillance vehicle 200, and transfers the information (the licenseplate number of the subject vehicle, present position, and the like) onthe subject vehicle 100 verified as one in question by the computers 500of the processing institutions such as police, junked vehicle agencies,district offices if it is impossible to process the subject vehicle 100verified in question by the surveillance vehicle 200.

FIG. 2 is a view for showing in detail an internal structure of thesurveillance vehicle 200 of FIG. 1 according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, a key manipulation part 221 inputs, for arecognition of a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100, a keymanipulation signal of a driver or a passenger of the surveillancevehicle 200 for an output to a control part 223.

A photographing data input part 222 inputs photographing data of thesubject vehicle 100 photographed through the camera 210 for an output tothe control part 223.

The control part 223 outputs to a license plate number recognition part224 the photographing data of the subject vehicle 100 inputted throughthe photographing data input part 222, controls an extraction of thelicense plate number of the subject vehicle 100, controls an transfer ofthe license plate number of the subject vehicle 100 extracted from thelicense plate number recognition part 224 to the server computer 400through the portable communication device 230, and controls characterand voice outputs to enable a driver or a passenger to verify resultdata on whether the subject vehicle 100 received from the servercomputer 400 which verifies whether the subject vehicle 100 is inquestion based on its license plate number is one in question.

The license plate number recognition part 224 extracts a license platenumber of a subject vehicle based on the photographing data of thesubject vehicle 100 inputted through the photographing data input part222 according to the controls of the control part 223.

A database 225 stores various programs necessary for operations of thesurveillance part 220, and an automatic license plate number recognitionprogram for extracting a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100based on the photographing data of the subject vehicle 100 photographedby the camera 210.

A display part 226 displays, for driver's or passenger's verifications,on a screen result data on whether the subject vehicle 100 received fromthe server computer 400 through the portable communication device 230according to the controls of the control part 223 is in question.

A voice output part 227 converts into a voice result data on whether thesubject vehicle 100 received from the server computer 400 through theportable communication device 230 according to the controls of thecontrol part 223 is in question, and outputs the voice though speakersfor driver's or passenger's verifications.

A communication interface 228 is connected for communications with theportable communication device 230 equipped in the surveillance vehicle200, outputs to the portable communication device 230 a license platenumber of the subject vehicle 100 according to the controls of thecontrol part 223, and outputs to the control part 223 result data onwhether the subject vehicle 100 inputted from the server computer 400through the portable communication device 230 is in question.

FIG. 3 is a view for showing in detail a structure of the servercomputer 400 of FIG. 1 according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a data communication part 410 periodically inputs,for an output to a main control part 420, information on vehicles invarious questions such as theft, search, and so on, from the computers500 of the processing institutions such as police, junked vehiclemanagement agencies, district offices, and the like, through thecommunication network 300, receives, for an output to the main controlpart 420, a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100 from theportable communication device 230 equipped in the surveillance vehicle200 through the communication network 300, and transfers to the portablecommunication device 230 equipped in the surveillance vehicle 200 resultdata on whether the subject vehicle 100 inputted from the main controlpart 420 is in question.

The main control part 420 controls, for storage to the database 430,information on vehicles in various questions such as theft, search, andso on, inputted from the computers 500 of the processing institutionssuch as police, junked vehicle management agencies, district offices,and the like, through the data communication part 410, compares thevehicle information stored in the database with a license plate numberof the subject vehicle 100 based on the license plate number of thesubject vehicle 100 received from the portable communication device 230equipped in the surveillance vehicle 200 through the data communicationpart 410 and verifies whether the subject vehicle 100 is in question,and controls a transfer of result data on whether the subject vehicle100 is in question to the portable communication device 230 equipped inthe surveillance vehicle 200.

The database 430 updates and stores information on vehicles in variousquestions such as theft, search, and so on, inputted from the processinginstitution computers 500 according to the main control part 420.

Next, a method for automatically recognizing a license plate number of asubject vehicle in use of a surveillance vehicle will be described indetail according to the first embodiment of the present inventionconstructed as above with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG. 8.

FIG. 4 is flow charts for a method for automatically recognizing alicense plate number of a subject vehicle in use of a surveillancevehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention, andFIG. 5 to FIG. 8 are flow charts for showing in more detail routines forautomatically recognizing a license plate number of a subject vehicle ofFIG. 4.

First, the first embodiment of the present invention extracts a licenseplate number of the subject vehicle 100 from the surveillance vehicle200 for a transfer to the server computer 400, and, after verifyingwhether the subject vehicle 100 in question appears from the servercomputer 400 based on the extracted license plate number, notifies, forprocessing, the corresponding surveillance vehicle 200 or the relatedprocessing institution computers 500 of information on the subjectvehicle 100 being in question according to whether the surveillancevehicle 200 can deal with, which recognizes the subject vehicle 100 onthe run or in parking/stopping which is located within a photographingrange from the particular surveillance vehicle 200 equipped with anautomatic license plate number recognition device (camera, surveillancedevice, portable communication device, and so on)(S102), and photographsthe subject vehicle 100 inclusive of its license plate numberinformation through the camera 210 equipped in the surveillance vehicle200 (S104).

At this time, the photographing of the subject vehicle 100 is done bythe camera 210 after automatically recognizing the subject vehicle 100by means of a surveillance sensor provided at a certain position of thesurveillance vehicle 200 or the camera 210, or by a method that a driveror a passenger recognizes the subject vehicle 100 within a photographingrange, manipulates the camera 210, and photographs the subject vehicle100.

After acquiring photographing data inclusive of the information on thelicense plate number of the subject vehicle 100 through the camera 210,the control part 223 of the surveillance part 220 equipped in thesurveillance vehicle 200 outputs to the license plate number recognitionpart 224 the photographing data inputted through the photographing datainput part 222 for an extraction of the license plate number of thesubject vehicle 100 (S106).

A license plate number extraction process of the subject vehicle 100 isdescribed in more detail as below with reference to FIG. 5 to FIG. 8 ofthe is accompanying drawings.

First, the license plate number recognition part 224 extracts a licenseplate number region of the subject vehicle 100 based on thephotographing data including the license plate number information of thesubject vehicle 100 photographed by the camera 210 from thephotographing data of the subject vehicle 100 inputted from the controlpart 223 (S106 a).

Described in detail with reference to FIG. 6, an image (for example,640×480 resolution) is acquired to extract the license plate numberregion from the photographing data including the license plate numberinformation of the subject vehicle 100 photographed by the camera 210(S106 a-1), an image quality deterioration due to camera movements isalleviated by performing a down sampling to lower a resolution of theimage acquired from the step S106 a-1(for example, 640×240resolution)(S106 a-2), the down-sampled image is configured to an imagepyramid(for example, 640×240, 320×120, 160×60, and 80×30) havingdifferent spatial resolutions in order to select a resolution suitablefor extracting a license plate region(S106 a-3), the color level isconverted to a gray level by using color information of the licenseplate after configuring the image pyramid having different spatialresolutions and converted into a binary image through a proper thresholdvalue selection, and clustering is carried out to extract a rectangularregion by producing a projection image in lengthwise and widthwisedirections and using the lengthwise/widthwise projection image and anaspect ratio of the length and width of the license plate (S106 a-4), anext step (S106 b) proceeds with a decision on whether a position and asize of the license plate region in the clustering-performed image arecorrect (S106 a-5), and, if the position and size of the license plateregion in the clustering-performed image are not correct, the controlpart 223 of the surveillance part 220 equipped in the surveillancevehicle 220 controls the camera 100 by producing information on left,right, up, and down positions of the camera and a zoom control signal(S106 a-6). That is, the step (S104)(step S204 in a second embodiment,and step S304 in a third embodiment) is carded out again forphotographing the subject vehicle 100 through the camera 210 equipped inthe surveillance vehicle 200.

After extracting the license plate region of the subject vehicle 100through the step S106 a, individual character regions are extracted fromthe extracted license plate region (S106 b).

Describing in detail with reference to FIG. 7, the license plate numberrecognition part 224 converts the extracted license plate region intothe gray level through the above step S106 a (S106 b-1), applies ahorizontal histogram to the gray level-converted license plate regionfor a separation into an upper portion and a lower portion (S106-2),applies a vertical histogram to the license plate region separated intothe upper and lower portions due to the application of the horizontalhistogram for extractions of individual characters existing on thelicense plate region (S106 b-3), and a next step (S106 c) is carried outafter digitizing through a proper threshold value selection theindividual characters extracted through the horizontal/verticalhistograms of the steps S106 b-2 and S106 b-3(S106 b-4).

Characteristic vectors are extracted from the respective individualcharacter regions after extracting the individual character regionsthrough the step S106 b (S106 c).

Describing in detail with respect to FIG. 8, the respective individualcharacters of the extracted license plate region through the step S106 bare divided in the vertical direction (S106-1) and then in thehorizontal direction (S106 c-2), the respective individual characters ofthe license plate region are mapped to a 64-dimensional size (8×8) afterdivided in the horizontal/vertical directions (S106 c-3), and, after the64-dimensional (8×8) mapping, the values of the respective mappedindividual characters are normalized for characteristic vectorextractions (S106 c-4). At this time, each mapped dimension has a valueof 0 or 1, so it is not necessary to normalize a character size.

After the characteristic vector extractions from the individualcharacter regions through the step S106 c, characters and numbers arerecognized from the extracted characteristic vectors and then a licenseplate number of the subject vehicle 100 are finally identified (S106 d).At this time when characters and numbers are recognized based on theextracted characteristic vectors from the individual character regions,a character having the highest similarity from different charactersrecognized through a pattern learning in use of a modular neuro-networkis selected as a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100.

Now, after extracting a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100through the above step S106, the surveillance part 220 transfers theextracted license plate number of the subject vehicle 100 to the servercomputer 400 through the portable communication device 230 connected tothe communication interface 228 (S108).

The server computer 400 receives the license plate number of the subjectvehicle 100 from the surveillance vehicle 200 through the communicationnetwork 300 (S110).

The main control part of the server computer 400 determines whetherinformation on vehicles in question stored in the database 430 isup-to-date information within a valid period (S112).

If the information on vehicles in question stored in the database 430are not up-to-date information within a valid period as a result of thedetermination, the main control part 420 proceeds with a communicationconnection to the computers 500 of a related processing institution suchas police, junked vehicle management agencies, district offices, and soon, through the data communication part 410, receives up-to-dateinformation, and updates the database 430 (S114).

If the information on vehicles in question stored in the database 430 isup-to-date information within a valid period as a result of thedetermination of the above step S112 or after updating to up-to-dateinformation through the above step S114, the main control part 420compares the license plate number of the subject vehicle 100 receivedfrom the surveillance vehicle 200 with the information on vehicles inquestion stored in the database 430 (S116), and determines whether thesubject vehicle 100 is one in question as a result of the comparison(S118).

If the subject vehicle 100 is not one in question as a result of thedetermination, the main control part 420 transfers to the surveillancevehicle 200 through the data communication part 410 a message notifyingthat the subject vehicle 100 is not one in question (S120).

At this time, in case that a driver or a passenger of the surveillancevehicle 200 is aware of having requested a vehicle inquiry to the servercomputer 400, the surveillance part 220 of the surveillance vehicle 200notifies that the subject vehicle 100 has no problem through the displaypart 226 or the voice output part to is enable the driver or thepassenger to verify it, and, in case that a driver or a passenger of thesurveillance vehicle 200 is not aware of having requested a vehicleinquiry, the surveillance part 220 of the surveillance vehicle 200records a receipt of a message that the subject vehicle 100 has noproblem from the server computer 400.

However, if the subject vehicle 100 is one in question as a result ofthe determination of the above step S118, the main control part 420determines whether the surveillance vehicle 200 can deal with thesubject vehicle 100 (S122). That is, this is to check whether thesurveillance vehicle 200 has a judicial processing capacity (forexample, police vehicle).

If the surveillance vehicle 200 can directly deal with the subjectvehicle 100 in question as a result of the determination, the maincontrol part 420 transfers to the surveillance vehicle 200 a messagenotifying that the subject vehicle 100 is one in question (S124), andenables the surveillance vehicle 200 to deal with the subject vehicle100 in question based on given processing procedures (S126).

However, as a result of the determination in the above step S122, if thesurveillance vehicle 200 can not directly deal with the subject vehicle100 in question since it has no judicial processing capacity, the maincontrol part 420 notifies the computers 500 of the related processinginstitutions such as police and the like of the information of thesubject vehicle 100 in question (S128), and enables a correspondingprocessing institution to deal with the subject vehicle 100 in questionbased on the information from the surveillance vehicle 200 (S130).

Lastly, the surveillance vehicle 200 or a vehicle of a relatedprocessing institution records photographing and processing results asto the particular subject vehicle 100, and, likewise, the servercomputer 400 records and manages inquiry and processing results of thesubject vehicle 100 requested from the surveillance vehicle 200.

Embodiment 2

A basic structure of a system for automatically recognizing a licenseplate number according to a second embodiment of the present inventionare the same as in reference numbers and names when compared with thestructure of FIG. 1 described in the first embodiment before, but it hasa difference in functions extracting a license plate number of thesubject vehicle 100 from the surveillance vehicle 200, comparing theextracted license plate number with a database existing inside thesurveillance vehicle 200, and directly verifying whether the subjectvehicle 100 is one in question.

That is, the surveillance vehicle 200 includes a camera 210 a forphotographing license plate information of the subject vehicle 100 onthe run or in parking or stopping, a surveillance part 220 a forextracting a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100 based ondata obtained from the photographing through the camera 210 a, verifyingwhether the subject vehicle 100 has a problem in comparison of theextracted license plate number of the subject vehicle 100 withinformation on vehicles in question stored in a database, notifying adriver or a passenger in characters or by voice of result data onwhether the subject vehicle 100 has a problem, and recording thediscovery of a vehicle in question if impossible to notify the servercomputer 400 of a result on whether the subject vehicle 100 has aproblem, and a portable communication device 230 a for receivinginformation on vehicles in question which is periodically updated by theserver computer 400, and transferring to the server computer 400 throughthe communication network 300 information on the subject vehicle 100verified as a vehicle in question if possible to notify the servercomputer 400 of a result as to whether the subject vehicle 100 has aproblem.

At this time, the surveillance part 220 a equipped in the abovesurveillance vehicle 200, if the subject vehicle is verified as avehicle in question when verifying whether a problem occurs incomparison with the information on vehicles in question such as theft,search, and so on, stored in the database based on the extracted licenseplate number of the subject vehicle 100, determines whether processingis possible in the surveillance vehicle 200, and, if the surveillancevehicle 200 can not deal with the subject vehicle 100 verified as avehicle in question, transfers the information(license plate number ofthe subject vehicle, present location, and so on) on the subject vehicle100 verified as a vehicle in question, for processing, to the computers500 of the processing institutions such as police, junked vehiclemanagement agencies, district offices, or the like, through the portablecommunication device 230 a connected to the surveillance part 220 abased on data stored in the database.

The server computer 400 is periodically provided through thecommunication network 300 with information on vehicles in variousquestions such as theft or search, for building a database, from thecomputers 500 of processing institutions such as police, junked vehiclemanagement agencies, district offices, and so on, which control andmanage vehicles, transfers the information on vehicles in question whichis periodically updated to the portable communication device 230 aequipped in each surveillance vehicle 200 through the communicationnetwork 300, and stores in the database the information on the subjectvehicle 100 verified as a vehicle in question which is received from theportable communication device 230 a equipped in the surveillance vehicle200 through the communication network 300.

FIG. 9 is a view for showing in more detail the internal structure ofthe described surveillance vehicle 200 of FIG. 1 according to a secondembodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 9, a key manipulation part 221 a inputs, for arecognition of a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100, a keymanipulation signal of a driver or a passenger of the surveillancevehicle 200 for an output to a control part 223 a.

A photographing data input part 222 a inputs photographing data of thesubject vehicle 100 photographed through the camera 210 a for an outputto the control part 223 a.

The control part 223 a controls the storage of information on vehiclesin various question such as theft and search which is periodicallyreceived from the server computer 400 into a database 225 a, controlsthe extraction of a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100 froma license plate number recognition part 224 a based on the photographingdata of the subject vehicle 100 inputted through the photographing datainput part 222 a, verifies whether the subject vehicle 100 has a problemin comparison of a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100extracted through the license plate number recognition part 224 a withthe information on vehicles in question stored in the database 225 a,controls character and/or voice outputs to enable a driver or apassenger to verify result data on whether the subject vehicle 100 isone in question, and stores into the database 225 a the discovery of avehicle in question if impossible to notify the server computer 400 of aresult on whether the subject vehicle 100 has a problem.

The license plate number recognition part 224 a extracts a license platenumber of a subject vehicle based on the photographing data of thesubject vehicle 100 inputted through the photographing data input part222 a according to the controls of the control part 223 a.

A database 225 a stores various programs necessary for operations of thesurveillance part 220 a, and an automatic license plate numberrecognition program for extracting a license plate number of the subjectvehicle 100 based on the photographing data of the subject vehicle 100photographed by the camera 210 a, updates and stores the information onvehicles in various questions such as theft and search which isperiodically received from the server computer 400, and stores thediscovery of a vehicle in question according to the controls of thecontrol part 223 a.

At this time, compact discs(CD) which are portable storage media may beused for the information on vehicles in various questions which isupdated and managed in the above database 225 a.

A display part 226 a displays on a screen result data as to whether thesubject vehicle 100 has a problem according to the controls of thecontrol part 223 a to enable a driver or a passenger to verify it.

A voice output part 227 a converts into a voice result data on whetherthe subject vehicle 100 is one in question according to the controls ofthe control part 223 a, and outputs the voice though speakers fordriver's or passenger's verifications.

A communication interface 228 a is connected, for communications, withthe portable communication device 230 a equipped in the surveillancevehicle 200, outputs to the control parts 223 a the information onvehicles in various questions such as theft and/or search which isperiodically received from the server computer 400 through the portablecommunication device 230 a, and outputs to the portable communicationdevice 230 a the information on the subject vehicle 100 verified as avehicle in question according to the controls of the control part 223 a.

FIG. 10 is a view for showing in more detail a structure of thedescribed server computer 400 of FIG. 1 according to a second embodimentof the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 10, a data communication part 410 a transfers to theportable communication device 230 a equipped in the surveillance vehicle200, through the communication network 300, the information on vehiclesin various questions such as theft, search, and so on, which isperiodically inputted from the computers 500 of the processinginstitutions such as police, junked vehicle management agencies,district offices, and the like, for controlling and managing vehicles,and receives information on the subject vehicle 100 verified as avehicle in question from the portable communication device 230 aequipped in the surveillance vehicle 200 through the communicationnetwork 300.

The main control part 420 a controls the storage into the database 430 aof the information on vehicles in various questions such as theft,search, and so on, which is periodically inputted from the computers 500of the processing institutions such as police, junked vehicle managementagencies, district offices, and the like which control and managevehicles, through the data communication part 410 a, simultaneouslycontrols transfers to the portable communication device 230 a equippedin the surveillance vehicle 200 through the communication network 300,and controls the storage into the database 430 a of the information onthe subject vehicle 100 verified as a vehicle in question received fromthe portable communication device 230 a equipped in the surveillancevehicle 200 through the data communication part 410 a.

The database 430 updates and stores information on vehicles in variousquestions such as theft, search, and so on, inputted from the processinginstitution computers 500 according to the main control part 420, andstores the information of the subject vehicle 100 verified as a vehiclein question which is received from the portable communication device 230a equipped in the surveillance vehicle 200.

Next, a method for automatically recognizing a license plate number of asubject vehicle in use of a surveillance vehicle will be described indetail according to the second embodiment of the present inventionconstructed as above with reference to FIG. 11.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart for showing a method for automaticallyrecognizing a license plate number of a subject vehicle in use of asurveillance vehicle according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention.

First, the second embodiment of the present invention is a method thatextracts a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100 from thesurveillance vehicle 200, verifies whether the subject vehicle 100 has aproblem in comparison of the extracted license plate number with thedatabase inside the surveillance vehicle 200, directly notifies a driveror a passenger of the information on the subject vehicle 100 in questionaccording to whether the surveillance vehicle 200 can deal with it ornotifies the related processing institution computers 500 forprocessing, which recognizes the subject vehicle 100 on the run or inparking/stopping which is located within a photographing range from theparticular surveillance vehicle 200 equipped with an automatic licenseplate number recognition device (camera, surveillance device, portablecommunication device, and so on)(S202), and photographs the subjectvehicle 100 inclusive of its license plate number information throughthe camera 210 a equipped in the surveillance vehicle 200 (S204).

At this time, the photographing of the subject vehicle 100 is done bythe camera 210 a after automatically recognizing the subject vehicle 100by means of a surveillance sensor provided at a certain position of thesurveillance vehicle 200 or the camera 210 a, or by a method that adriver or a passenger recognizes the s subject vehicle 100, manipulatesthe camera 210 a, and photographs the subject vehicle 100.

After acquiring photographing data inclusive of the information on thelicense plate number of the subject vehicle 100 through the camera 210a, the control part 223 a of the surveillance part 220 a equipped in thesurveillance vehicle 200 outputs to the license plate number recognitionpart 224 a the photographing data inputted through the photographingdata input part 222 a for an extraction of the license plate number ofthe subject vehicle 100 (S206). At this time, a detailed description forthe license plate number extraction based on the photographing data ofthe subject vehicle 100 which is carried out in the license plate numberrecognition part 224 a will be omitted in here since it is the same asthe license plate number extraction process described in the firstembodiment.

After extracting a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100through the above step S206, the surveillance part 220 a determineswhether information on vehicles in question stored in the database 225 aprovided inside the surveillance part 220 a is up-to-date informationwithin a valid period (S208).

If the information on vehicles in question stored in the database 225 aare not up-to-date information within a valid period as a result of thedetermination, the control part 223 a of the surveillance part 220 arequests to the server computer 400, through the portable communicationdevice 230 a connected to a communication interface 228 a, up-to-dateinformation on vehicles in various questions which is provided from thecomputers 500 of related processing institutions such as police), junkedvehicle management agencies, district offices, and so on (S210),receives the up-to-date information on vehicles in various questionsfrom the server computer 400, and updates the database 225 a (S212).

If the information on vehicles in question stored in the database 225 ais up-to-date information within a valid period as a result of thedetermination of the above step S208 or after updating to up-to-dateinformation through the above steps S210 and S212, the surveillance part220 a compares the license plate number of the subject vehicle 100extracted through the above step S206 with the information on vehiclesin question stored in the database 225 a (S214), and determines whetherthe subject vehicle 100 is one in question as a result of the comparison(S216).

If the subject vehicle 100 is not one in question as a result of thedetermination, the surveillance part 220 a outputs through a displaypart 226 a or a voice output part 227 a in characters or by voice amessage notifying that the subject vehicle 100 is not one in question(S120).

However, if the subject vehicle 100 is one in question as a result ofthe determination of the above step S216, the surveillance part 220 adetermines whether the surveillance vehicle 200 can deal with thesubject vehicle 100 (S220). That is, this is to check whether thesurveillance vehicle 200 has a judicial processing capacity (forexample, police vehicle).

If the surveillance vehicle 200 can directly deal with the subjectvehicle 100 in question as a result of the determination, thesurveillance part 220 a outputs through the display part 226 aor thevoice output part 227 a in characters or by voice a message notifyingthat the subject vehicle 100 is one in question (S222), and enables thesurveillance vehicle 200 to deal with the subject vehicle 100 inquestion based on given processing procedures (S224).

However, as a result of the determination in the above step S220, if thesurveillance vehicle 200 can not directly deal with the subject vehicle100 in question since it has no judicial processing capacity, thesurveillance part 220 a transfers the information of the subject vehicle100 in question to the related processing institutions computers 500through the portable communication device 230 a connected to thecommunication interface 228 a (S226), and enables a correspondingprocessing institution to deal with the subject vehicle 100 in questionbased on the information from the surveillance vehicle 200 (S228).

Lastly, the surveillance vehicle 200 or a vehicle of a relatedprocessing institution records photographing and processing results asto the particular subject vehicle 100, and, likewise, the servercomputer 400 records and manages inquiry and processing results of thesubject vehicle 100 requested from the surveillance vehicle 200.

Embodiment 3

A basic structure of a system for automatically recognizing a licenseplate number according to a third embodiment of the present inventionare the same as in reference numbers and names when compared with thestructure of FIG. 1 described in the first embodiment before, but it hasa difference in functions transferring to the server computer 400 allthe photographing data of the subject vehicle 100 from the surveillancevehicle 200, extracting a license plate number of the subject vehicle100 from the server computer 400 based on the photographing data,comparing the extracted license plate number with a database existinginside the server computer 400, and directly verifying whether thesubject vehicle 100 is one in question.

That is, the surveillance vehicle 200 includes a camera 210 b for isphotographing license plate information of the subject vehicle 100 onthe run or in parking or stopping, a surveillance part 220 b forextracting a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100 based onthe photographing data of the subject vehicle 100, receiving through aportable communication device 230 b result data on whether the subjectvehicle 100 has a problem from the server computer 400 verifying whetherthe subject vehicle 100 is one in question based on the extractedlicense plate number, and notifying a driver or a passenger incharacters or by voice, and a portable communication device 230 b fortransferring the photographing data of the camera 210 b to the servercomputer 400 through the communication network 300

At this time, in the third embodiment of the present invention asdescribed above, in addition to a method for photographing the licenseplate information of the subject vehicle 100 on the run or in parking orstopping through the camera 210 b equipped in the surveillance vehicle200 in a fixed manner, a method can be used in which a driver,passenger, or a movable (portable) camera bearer of the surveillancevehicle 200 photographs license plate information of the subject vehicle100 on the run or in parking or stopping, connects the movable(portable) camera to the surveillance part 220 b for downloading thephotographing data, and transfers to the server computer 400 thephotographing data inclusive of the downloaded license plate informationof the subject vehicle 100 through the portable communication device 230b connected to the surveillance part 220 b.

The server computer 400 is periodically provided through thecommunication network 300 with information on vehicles in variousquestions such as theft or search, for building a database, from thecomputers 500 of processing institutions such as police, junked vehiclemanagement agencies, district offices, and so on, which control andmanage vehicles, extracts a license plate number of the subject vehicle100 based on the photographing data received from the surveillancevehicle 200 through the communication network 300, verifies whether thesubject vehicle 100 is one in question in comparison of the extractedlicense plate number of the subject vehicle 100 with the information onvehicles in question stored in the database, and transfers to theportable communication device 230 b equipped in the correspondingsurveillance vehicle 200 the result data as to whether the subjectvehicle 100 has a problem.

At this time, the server computer 400 described above extracts a licenseplate number of the subject vehicle 100 based on the photographing dataof the subject vehicle 100 received from the portable communicationdevice 230 b equipped in the particular surveillance vehicle 200,determines whether the surveillance vehicle 200 can deal with thesubject vehicle 100 if the subject vehicle 100 is one in question whenverifying whether to be in question in comparison with the informationon vehicles in various questions such as theft and/or search stored inthe database, and, if the corresponding surveillance vehicle 200 can notdeal with the subject vehicle 100 verified as a vehicle in question,transfers the information (license plate number of the subject vehicle,present position, and so on) of the subject vehicle 100 verified as avehicle in question, for processing, to the computers 500 of theprocessing institutions such as police, junked vehicle managementagencies, district offices, and the like.

FIG. 12 is a view for showing in more detail the internal structure ofthe described surveillance vehicle 200 of FIG. 1 according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 12, a key manipulation part 221 b inputs, for arecognition of a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100, a keymanipulation signal of a driver or a passenger of the surveillancevehicle 200 for an output to a control part 223 b.

A photographing data input part 222 b inputs photographing data of thesubject vehicle 100 photographed through the camera 210 b for an outputto the control part 223 b.

The control part 223 b controls to the server computer 400 through theportable communication device 230 b an transfer of the photographingdata of the subject vehicle 100 inputted through the photographing datainput part 222 b, and controls character and voice outputs, for driver'sor passenger's identifications, of the result data on whether thesubject vehicle 100 received from the server computer 400 has aquestion.

A display part 224 b displays on a screen result data as to whether thesubject vehicle 100 received from the server computer 400 through theportable communication device 230 b has a problem according to thecontrols of the control part 223 b to enable a driver or a passenger toverify it.

A voice output part 225 b converts into a voice result data on whetherthe subject vehicle 100 received from the server computer 400 throughthe portable communication device 230 b is one in question according tothe controls of the control part 223 b, and outputs the voice thoughspeakers for driver's or passenger's verifications.

A communication interface 226 b is connected, for communications, withthe portable communication device 230 b equipped in the surveillancevehicle 200, outputs to the portable communication device 230 b thephotographing data of the subject vehicle 100 photographed according tothe control of the control part 223 b, and outputs to the control part223 b the result data as to whether the subject vehicle 100 inputtedfrom the server computer 400 through the portable communication device230 b has a problem.

FIG. 13 is a view for showing in more detail a structure of thedescribed server computer 400 of FIG. 1 according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 13, a data communication part 410 b periodically inputsthrough the communication network 300 the information on vehicles invarious questions such as theft, search, and so on, from the computers500 of the processing institutions such as police, junked vehiclemanagement agencies, district offices, and the like, receives throughthe communication network 300 the photographing data of the subjectvehicle 100 photographed by the camera 210 b from the portablecommunication device 230 b equipped in the surveillance vehicle 200, andtransfers the result data as to whether the subject vehicle 100 inputtedfrom a main control part 420 b has a problem to the portablecommunication device 230 b equipped in the corresponding surveillancevehicle 200.

The main control part 420 b controls into the database 430 b the storageof the information on vehicles in various questions such as theft,search, and so on, which is inputted from the computers 500 of theprocessing institutions such as police, junked vehicle managementagencies, district offices, and the like which control and managevehicles, through the data communication part 410 b, controlsextractions of a license plate number of the subject vehicle 100 basedon the photographing data of the subject vehicle 100 received from thesurveillance vehicle 200 through the data communication part 410 b,verifies whether the subject vehicle 100 is one in question incomparison of the license plate number of the corresponding subjectvehicle 100 with the information on vehicles stored in the database 430b based on the extracted license plate number of the subject vehicle100, and controls the transfer of the result data on whether the subjectvehicle 100 has a problem to the portable communication device 230 b.

The database 430 b updates and stores information on vehicles in variousquestions such as theft, search, and so on, inputted from the respectiveprocessing institution computers 500 according to the controls of themain control part 420 b.

A license plate number recognition part 440 b extracts a license platenumber of the surveillance vehicle 100 based on the photographing dataof the subject vehicle 100 received from the surveillance vehicle 200through the data communication part 410 b according to the control ofthe main control part 420 b.

Next, a method for automatically recognizing a license plate number of asubject vehicle in use of a surveillance vehicle according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention constructed as above with referenceto FIG. 13.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart for showing a method for automaticallyrecognizing a license plate number of a subject vehicle in use of asurveillance vehicle according to the third embodiment of the presentinvention.

First, the third embodiment of the present invention is a method inwhich the server computer 400 extracts a license plate number of thesubject vehicle 100 based on the photographing data of the subjectvehicle 100 received from the surveillance vehicle 200, verifies whetherthe subject vehicle 100 has a problem, and notifies the surveillancevehicle 200 or the related processing Institution computers 500, forprocessing, of information on the subject vehicle 100 in questionaccording to whether the corresponding surveillance vehicle 200 can dealwith the subject vehicle 100, the particular surveillance vehicle 200equipped with an automatic license plate number recognition device(camera, surveillance device, portable communication device, and so on)recognizes the subject vehicle 100 on is the run or in parking orstopping which is located within a photographing range (S302), andphotographs the subject vehicle 100 inclusive of information on itslicense plate through the camera 210 b equipped in the surveillancevehicle 200 (S304).

At this time, the photographing of the subject vehicle 100 is done bythe camera 210 b after automatically recognizing the subject vehicle 100by means of a surveillance sensor provided at a certain position of thesurveillance vehicle 200 or the camera 210 b, or by a method that adriver or a passenger recognizes the subject vehicle 100, manipulatesthe camera 210 b, and photographs the subject vehicle 100.

After acquiring photographing data inclusive of the information on thelicense plate of the subject vehicle 100 through the camera 210 b, thesurveillance part 220 b of the surveillance vehicle 200 transfers thephotographing data of the corresponding subject vehicle 100 to theserver computer 400 through the portable communication device 230 bconnected to the communication interface 226 b (S306).

The server computer 400 receives the photographing data of the subjectvehicle 100 from the surveillance vehicle 200 through the communicationnetwork 200 (S308).

Further, the main control part 420 b of the server computer 400 outputsto the license plate number recognition part 440 b the photographingdata of the subject vehicle 100 received from the surveillance vehicle200 through the data communication part 410 b for an extraction of thelicense plate number of the subject vehicle 100 (S310). In here, adetailed description on the extraction of the license plate number basedon the photographing data of the subject vehicle 100 which is carriedout by the license plate number recognition part 440 b will be omittedsince it is the same as the license plate number extraction previouslydescribed in the first embodiment.

After the license plate number recognition part 440 b extracts a licenseplate number based on the photographing data of the subject vehicle 100,the main control part 420 b determines whether information on vehiclesin question stored in the database 430 b is up-to-date informationwithin a valid period (S312).

If the information on vehicles in question stored in the database 430 bare not up-to-date information within a valid period as a result of thedetermination, the main control part 420 b proceeds for a communicationconnection to the computers 500 of related processing institutions suchas police, junked vehicle management agencies, district offices, and soon, via the data communication part 410 b, receives up-to-dateinformation, and updates the database 430 b (S314).

If the information on vehicles in question stored in the database 430 bis up-to-date information within a valid period as a result of thedetermination of the above step S312, or after updating to up-to-dateinformation through the above steps S314, the main control part 420 bcompares the license plate number of the subject vehicle 100 extractedthrough the above step S310 with the information on vehicles in questionstored in the database 430 b (S316), and determines whether the subjectvehicle 100 is one in question as a result of the comparison (S318).

If the subject vehicle 100 has no problem as a result of thedetermination, the main control part 420 b transfers to thecorresponding surveillance vehicle 200 via the data communication part410 b a message notifying that the subject vehicle 100 is not one inquestion (S320).

At this time, in case that a driver or a passenger of the surveillancevehicle 200 is aware of having requested a vehicle inquiry to the servercomputer 400, the surveillance part 220 b of the surveillance vehicle200 notifies that the subject vehicle 100 has no problem through thedisplay part 224 b or the voice output part 225 b to enable the driveror the passenger to verify it, and, in case that a driver or a passengerof the surveillance vehicle 200 is not aware of having requested avehicle inquiry, the surveillance part 220 b of the surveillance vehicle200 records a receipt of a message that the subject vehicle 100 has noproblem from the server computer 400.

However, if the subject vehicle 100 is one in question as a result ofthe determination of the above step S318, the main control part 420 bdetermines whether the surveillance vehicle 200 can deal with thesubject vehicle 100 (S322). That is, this is to check whether thesurveillance vehicle 200 has a judicial processing capacity (forexample, police vehicle).

If the surveillance vehicle 200 can directly deal with the subjectvehicle 100 in question as a result of the determination, the maincontrol part 420 b transfers to the surveillance vehicle 200 a messagenotifying that the subject vehicle 100 is one in question (S324) toenables the surveillance vehicle 200 to deal with the subject vehicle100 in question based on given processing procedures (S326).

However, as a result of the determination in the above step S322, if thesurveillance vehicle 200 can not directly deal with the subject vehicle100 in question since it has no judicial processing capacity, the maincontrol part 420 b notifies related processing institution computers 500of the information of the subject vehicle 100 in question (S328) toenable a corresponding processing institution to deal with the subjectvehicle 100 in question based on the information from the surveillancevehicle 200 (S330).

Lastly, the surveillance vehicle 200 or a vehicle of a relatedprocessing institution records photographing and processing results asto the particular subject vehicle 100, and, likewise, the servercomputer 400 records and manages inquiry and processing results of thesubject vehicle 100 requested from the surveillance vehicle 200.

In the meantime, in the third embodiment of the present invention, inaddition to a method for photographing the license plate information ofthe subject vehicle 100 in use of the camera 210 b equipped in thesurveillance vehicle 200 in a fixed manner through the above step S304,a method can be used in which a driver, passenger, or a movable(portable) camera bearer of the surveillance vehicle 200 photographslicense plate information of the subject vehicle 100 on the run or inparking or stopping, connects the movable (portable) camera to thesurveillance part 220 b for downloading the photographing data, andtransfers to the server computer 400 the photographing data inclusive ofthe downloaded license plate information of the subject vehicle 100through the portable communication device 230 b connected to thesurveillance part 220 b.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As stated above, the present invention has an effect on reductions ofcosts to be invested to vehicles in theft and in search by monitoringother vehicles through a surveillance vehicle and obtaining informationthereof as well as has an effect on crime preventions by graspingwhether other vehicles which are the subject vehicles are in question onthe run, rather than a method of police inspection questioning and raid.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that thepresent invention should not be limited to the described preferredembodiments, but various changes and modifications can be made withinthe spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

1. A system for automatically recognizing a license plate number of asubject vehicle in use of a surveillance vehicle, the subject vehiclebeing on the run or in parking or stopping, comprising: the surveillancevehicle having a camera for photographing license plate information ofthe subject vehicle on the run or in parking or stopping, a surveillancepart for extracting a license plate number of the subject vehicle basedon data photographed through the camera, receiving result data onwhether the subject vehicle is one in a question from a server computerverifying whether the subject vehicle has a problem based on theextracted license plate number of the subject vehicle for notificationsto a driver or a passenger in characters or by voice, and a portablecommunication device for transferring the license plate number of thesubject vehicle extracted from the surveillance part through acommunication network; and the server computer for periodicallyreceiving information on vehicles in the questions from computers ofprocessing institutions that control and manage vehicles through thecommunication network for building a database, and, if the license platenumber of the subject vehicle is received from the portablecommunication device equipped in the surveillance vehicle via thecommunication network, comparing the license plate number of the subjectvehicle with the vehicle information stored in the database foridentifications on whether the subject vehicle is in the question, andtransferring result data on whether the subject vehicle has a problem tothe portable communication device equipped in a correspondingsurveillance vehicle, wherein the surveillance part equipped in thesurveillance vehicle includes: a key manipulation part for inputting akey manipulation signal of a driver or a passenger of the surveillancevehicle to recognize the license plate number of the subject vehicle; aphotographing data input part for inputting the photographing data ofthe subject vehicle photographed via the camera; a control part forcontrolling an extractions of the license plate number of the subjectvehicle based on the photographing data of the subject vehicle inputtedthrough the photographing data input part, controlling an transfer ofthe extracted license plate number of the subject vehicle to the servercomputer through the portable communication device, and controls outputsof result data on whether the subject vehicle is in question which isreceived from the server computer verifying whether to be one inquestion based on the license plate number of the subject vehicle fordriver's or passenger's identifications; a vehicle license plate numberrecognition part for extracting the license plate number of the subjectvehicle based on the photographing data of the subject vehicle inputtedthrough the photographing data input part according to the control ofthe control part; a database for storing various programs necessary foroperations of the surveillance part and an automatic vehicle licenseplate number recognition program for extracting the license plate numberof the subject vehicle based on the photographing data of the subjectvehicle photographed by the camera; a display part for displaying resultdata on whether the subject vehicle is one in question which is receivedfrom the server computer through the portable communication deviceaccording to the control of the control part; a voice output part forconverting the result data on whether the subject vehicle is in questionwhich is received from the server computer through the portablecommunication device according to the control of the control part for anoutput through speakers; and a communication interface connected to theportable communication device equipped in the surveillance vehicle forcommunications, outputs the license plate number of the subject vehicleaccording to the control of the control part to the portablecommunication device, and outputs to the control part the result data onwhich the subject vehicle is in question which is inputted from theserver computer through the portable communication device.
 2. The systemas claimed in claim 1, wherein the server computer includes: a datacommunication part for periodically inputting information on vehicles inthe questions from the computers of the processing institutions,receiving the license plate number of the subject vehicle from theportable communication device equipped in the surveillance vehiclethrough the communication network, and transferring the result data onwhether the subject vehicle is in question which is inputted from a maincontrol part to the portable communication device equipped in acorresponding surveillance vehicle; the main control part forcontrolling the building of a database for information on vehicles inthe question, which is inputted from the computers of the processinginstitutions, comparing the license plate number of the subject vehiclewith the vehicle information stored in the database based on the licenseplate number of the subject vehicle received from the portablecommunication device equipped in the surveillance vehicle through thedata communication part for identifications on whether the subjectvehicle is in question, and controlling a transfer of the result data onwhether the subject vehicle is in question to the portable communicationdevice equipped in a corresponding surveillance vehicle; and a databasefor storing and updating the information on vehicles in variousquestions such as theft or search which is inputted from the computersof the processing computers according to the control of the main controlpart.
 3. The system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the servercomputer determines whether a corresponding surveillance vehicle candeal with the subject vehicle if the subject vehicle is in question whenverifying whether the subject vehicle has a problem in comparison of theinformation on vehicles in various question such as theft or searchstored in the database based on the license plate number of the subjectvehicle which is received from the portable communication deviceequipped in a particular surveillance vehicle, and transfers, forprocessing, the information on the subject vehicle(license plate numberof the subject vehicle, present location, and the like) verified as avehicle in question to the computers of the processing institution ifthe corresponding surveillance vehicle can not deal with the subjectvehicle verified as a vehicle in question.
 4. A system for automaticallyrecognizing a license plate number of a subject vehicle in use of asurveillance vehicle, the subject vehicle being on the run or in parkingor stopping, comprising: the surveillance vehicle having: a camera forphotographing license plate information of the subject vehicle on therun or in parking or stopping, a surveillance part for extracting thelicense plate number of the subject vehicle based on data photographedvia the camera, comparing the extracted license plate number of thesubject vehicle with information on vehicles in the question which isstored in a database for verifications on whether the subject vehicle isin question, notifying a driver or a passenger in characters or by voiceof result data on whether the subject vehicle is in question, andrecording discovery of a vehicle in question if impossible to notify aserver computer of notification of a result on whether the subjectvehicle is in question, and a portable communication device forreceiving information on vehicles in question which is periodicallyupdated from the server computer and transferring to the server computerthrough the communication network information on the subject vehicleverified as a vehicle in question if possible to notify the servercomputer of a result as to whether the subject vehicle is in question;and the server computer for periodically receiving information onvehicles in the question from computers of processing institutions thatcontrol and manage vehicles through the communication network forbuilding a database, transferring the information on vehicles inquestion which is periodically updated to the portable communicationdevice equipped in each surveillance vehicle through the communicationnetwork, and storing in the database the information on the subjectvehicle verified as a vehicle in the question which is received from theportable communication device equipped in the surveillance vehiclethrough the communication network, wherein the surveillance partequipped in the surveillance vehicle includes: a key manipulation partfor inputting a key manipulation of a driver or a passenger of thesurveillance vehicle for recognition of the license plate number of thesubject vehicle; a photographing data input part for inputtingphotographing data of the subject vehicle which is photographed throughthe camera; a control part for controlling the storage of information onvehicles in various question such as theft and search which isperiodically received from the server computer, controlling theextraction of the license plate number of the subject vehicle based onthe photographing data of the subject vehicle which is inputted throughthe photographing data input part, comparing the extracted license platenumber of the subject vehicle with the information on vehicles inquestion stored in the database for verifying whether the subjectvehicle is in question, controlling outputs of result data on whetherthe subject vehicle is in question in characters or by voice fordriver's or passenger's verifications, and storing in the databasediscovery of a vehicle in question if impossible to notify the servercomputer of a result as to whether the subject vehicle is in question; alicense plate number recognition part for extracting the license platenumber of the subject vehicle based on the photographing data of thesubject vehicle which is inputted through the photographing data inputpart according to the control of the control part; the database forstoring various programs necessary for operations of the surveillancepart and an automatic license plate number recognition program forextracting the license plate number of the subject vehicle based on thephotographing data of the subject vehicle which is photographed by thecamera, storing and updating the information on vehicles in variousquestions such as theft and search which is periodically received fromthe server computer, and storing the discovery of a vehicle in questionaccording to the control of the control part; a display part fordisplaying the result data as to whether the subject vehicle is inquestion according to the control of the control part; a voice outputpart for converting into voice the result data as to whether the subjectvehicle is in question according to the control of the control part foran output through speakers; and a communication interface connected forcommunications to the portable communication device equipped in thesurveillance vehicle, and for outputting to the control part theinformation on vehicles in various questions such as theft and searchwhich is periodically received from the server computer through theportable communication device, and outputting to the portablecommunication device the information on the subject vehicle verified asa vehicle in question according to the control of the control part. 5.The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the server computer includes:a data communication part for transferring to the portable communicationdevice equipped in the surveillance vehicle through the communicationnetwork the information on vehicles in the question which inperiodically inputted from the computer of the processing institutions,and receiving information on subject vehicle verified as a vehicle inquestion from the portable communication device equipped in thesurveillance vehicle through the communication network; a main controlpart for controlling the building of the database for the information onvehicles in the question such as theft and search which is periodicallyinputted from the computers of the processing institutions andsimultaneously controlling an transfer of the information to theportable communication device equipped in the surveillance vehiclethrough the communication network, and controlling into the database thestorage of the information of the subject vehicle verified as a vehiclein the question which is received from the portable communication deviceequipped in the surveillance vehicle through the data communicationpart; and the database for storing and updating the information onvehicles in various questions such as theft and search which is inputtedfrom the processing institution computers according to the control ofthe main control part, and for storing the information on the subjectvehicle verified as a vehicle in the question which is received from theportable communication device equipped in the surveillance vehicle. 6.The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the surveillance part equippedin the surveillance vehicle determines whether a correspondingsurveillance vehicle can deal with the subject vehicle if the subjectvehicle is verified as a vehicle in question when verifying whether thesubject vehicle is one in the question in comparison with theinformation on vehicles in the question which is stored in the databasebased on the license plate number of the subject vehicle which isextracted via the photographing of the camera, and, if the correspondingsurveillance vehicle can not deal with the subject vehicle verified as avehicle in question, transfers, for processing, the information on thesubject vehicle verified as a vehicle in question to the computers ofthe processing institutions via the portable communication deviceconnected to the surveillance part based on the data stored in thedatabase.
 7. A system for automatically recognizing a license platenumber of a subject vehicle in use of a surveillance vehicle, thesubject vehicle being on the run or in parking or stopping, comprising:the surveillance vehicle including: a camera for photographing licenseplate information of the subject vehicle on the run or in parking orstopping, a surveillance part for extracting the license plate numberbased on photographing data of the subject vehicle, and notifying adriver or a passenger in characters or by voice of result data onwhether the subject vehicle is in the question which is received througha portable communication device from a server computer verifying whetherthe subject vehicle is one in question based on the extracted licenseplate number, and the portable communication device for transferring thephotographing data of the camera through a communication network to theserver computer; and the server computer for building a database for theinformation on vehicles in the question which is periodically providedfrom computers of processing institutions that control and managevehicles through the communication network, extracting the license platenumber of the subject vehicle based on the photographing data receivedfrom the surveillance vehicle through the communication network,verifying whether the subject vehicle is in question in comparison ofthe extracted license plate number of the subject vehicle with theinformation on vehicles in question which is stored in the database, andtransferring result data as to whether the subject vehicle is in thequestion to the portable communication device equipped in thesurveillance vehicle for a surveillance vehicle driver's or apassenger's verifications, wherein the surveillance part equipped in thesurveillance vehicle includes: a key manipulation part for inputting akey manipulation signal of a driver or a passenger of the surveillancevehicle for recognition of the license plate number of the subjectvehicle; a photographing data input part for inputting the photographingdata of the subject vehicle photographed via the camera; a control partfor controlling character and/or voice outputs of the result data onwhether the subject vehicle is in question which is received from theserver computer for a driver's or a passenger's verifications; a displaypart for display the result data on whether the subject vehicle is inquestion which is received from the server computer through the portablecommunication device according to the control of the control part; avoice output part for converting into voice the result data on whetherthe subject vehicle is one in question which is received from the servercomputer through the portable communication device according to thecontrol of the control part for outputs through speakers; and acommunication interface connected for communications to the portablecommunication device equipped in the surveillance vehicle, and foroutputting to the portable communication device the photographing dataof the subject vehicle photographed by the camera according to thecontrol of the control part, and outputting to the control part theresult data as to whether the subject vehicle is in question which isinputted from the server computer through the portable communicationdevice.
 8. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the server computerincludes: a data communication part for periodically inputting throughthe communication network the information on vehicles in variousquestions such as theft and search from the computers of the processinginstitutions, receiving through the communication network thephotographing data of the subject vehicle photographed by the camerafrom the portable communication device equipped in the surveillancevehicle, and transferring the result data as to whether the subjectvehicle is one in the question which is inputted from a main controlpart to the portable communication device equipped in a correspondingsurveillance vehicle; the main control part for controlling the buildingof the database for the information on vehicles in various questionssuch as theft and search which is inputted through the datacommunication part from the computers of the processing institutions,controlling the extraction of the license plate number of the subjectvehicle based on the photographing data of the subject vehicle which isreceived through the data communication part from the surveillancevehicle, verifying whether the subject vehicle is in the question incomparison of the license plate number of the corresponding subjectvehicle with the information on vehicles which is stored in the databasebased on the extracted license plate number of the subject vehicle, andcontrolling an transfer of the result data as to whether the subjectvehicle is one in question to the portable communication device equippedin the corresponding surveillance vehicle; the database for storing andupdating the information on vehicles in various questions such as theftand search which in inputted from the processing institution computersaccording to the control of the main control part; and a license platenumber recognition part for extracting the license plate number of thesubject vehicle based on the photographing data of the subject vehiclewhich is received from the surveillance vehicle through the datacommunication part according to the control of the main control part. 9.The system as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8, wherein the server computerextracts the license plate number of the subject vehicle based on thephotographing data of the subject vehicle which is received from theportable communication device equipped in the surveillance vehicle,determines whether the corresponding surveillance vehicle can deal withthe subject vehicle if the subject vehicle is in question when verifyingwhether the subject vehicle has a problem in comparison of theinformation on vehicles in various question such as theft or searchstored in the database, and transfers, for processing, the informationon the subject vehicle verified as a vehicle in question to thecomputers of the processing institutions if the correspondingsurveillance vehicle can not deal with the subject vehicle verified as avehicle in question.
 10. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein thesurveillance part equipped in the surveillance vehicle transfers, if thephotographing data inclusive of the license plate information of thesubject vehicle on the run or in parking or stopping which isphotographed through manipulations of a driver or a passenger or througha movable(portable) camera bearer of the surveillance vehicle isdownloaded, to the server computer through the communication network thephotographing data of the corresponding subject vehicle which isdownloaded.
 11. A method for automatically recognizing a license platenumber of a subject vehicle in use of a surveillance vehicle, which isapplied to an automatic license plate number recognition system,comprising steps of: (1) recognizing the subject vehicle on the run orin parking or stopping which is located in a photographing range of acamera mounted to the surveillance vehicle, and photographing thesubject vehicle inclusive of its license plate through the camera; (2)extracting the license plate number of the subject vehicle based onphotographing data of the subject vehicle photographed by the camera;(3) transferring through a portable communication device to a servercomputer the license plate number of the subject vehicle which isextracted in the surveillance part equipped in the surveillance vehicle;(4) inputting, if the server computer receives the license plate numberof the subject vehicle from the surveillance vehicle, up-to-dateinformation on vehicles in question from related processing institutioncomputers based on whether a database provided for grasping whether thesubject vehicle is in the question is valid, and updating the database;(5) verifying by the server computer whether the subject vehicle has aproblem in comparison with the information on vehicles in the questionstored in the database based on the license plate number of the subjectvehicle which is received from the surveillance vehicle; (6) notifying,by the server computer, the surveillance vehicle that the subjectvehicle is not one in question, if it is verified that the subjectvehicle is not one in the question; (7) determining, by the servercomputer, whether the surveillance vehicle can deal with the subjectvehicle if it is verified that the subject vehicle is one in thequestion (8) notifying, by the server computer, the surveillance vehiclethat the subject vehicle is one in question to deal with the subjectvehicle in the question, if the surveillance vehicle can deal with thesubject vehicle in the question; and (9) notifying, by the servercomputer, a related processing institution computer of the informationon the subject vehicle to deal with the subject vehicle, if thesurveillance vehicle can not deal with the subject vehicle in thequestion, wherein the step (2) includes steps of: (2-1) extracting alicense plate region of the subject vehicle based on the photographingdata inclusive of the license plate number of the subject vehiclephotogaraphed by the camera; (2-2) extracting individual characterregions from the extracted license plate region; (2-3) extractingcharacteristic vectors from the respective individual character regionsextracted; and (2-4) recognizing characters and numbers from thecharacteristic vectors extracted from the respective individualcharacter regions to identify the license plate number of the subjectvehicle.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the step (2-1)includes steps of: (2-1-1) acquiring an image for the extraction of thelicense plate region from the photographing data inclusive of thelicense plate information of the subject vehicle photographed by thecamera; (2-1-2) down-sampling the image acquired from the step (2-1-1)to lower a resolution thereof for alleviation of an image deteriorationby camera movements; (2-1-3) configuring an image pyramid having adifferent spatial resolution from the down-sampled image for aresolution selection suitable for the extraction of the license plateregion; (2-1-4) converting, after the configuration of the image pyramidhaving a different spatial resolution, a color level into a gray levelin use of color information of the license plate, and then convertinginto a binary image through a suitable threshold value selection,producing a projection image in lengthwise and widthwise directions, andperforming clustering to extract a rectangular region in use of thelengthwise and widthwise projection image and an aspect ratio of lengthand width of the license plate; (2-1-5) determining whether a positionand a size of the license plate in the clustering-performed image arecorrect and proceeding with the next step (2-2); and (2-1-6) producingleft, right, up, and down position information of the camera and a zoomcontrol signal, if the position and size of the license plate region inthe clustering-performed image are not correct, and controlling thecamera by a control part of a surveillance part equipped in thesurveillance vehicle.
 13. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein thestep (2-2) includes steps of: (2-2-1) converting into a gray level thelicense plate region extracted through the step (2-1); (2-2-2) applyinga horizontal histogram to the license plate region converted into thegray level for separation into upper and lower portions; (2-2-3)applying a vertical histogram to the license plate region separated intothe upper and lower portions according to the horizontal histogramapplication to extract individual characters existing in the licenseplate region; and (2-2-4) digitizing through a proper threshold valueselection the individual characters extracted through the horizontal andvertical histogram applications of the steps (2-2-2) and (2-2-3) andproceeding with the next step (2-3).
 14. The method as claimed in claim11, wherein the step (2-3) includes steps of: (2-3-1) dividing in avertical direction each individual character of the license plate regionextracted through the step (2-2); (2-3-2) dividing each individualcharacter in a horizontal direction after the division of eachindividual character of the license plate region in the verticaldirection; (2-3-3) performing a 64-dimensional(8×8) mapping afterdividing respective individual characters of the license plate region inthe horizontal and vertical directions; and (2-3-4) normalizing valuesof the mapped respective individual characters, after the64-dimensional(8×8) mapping, to extract characteristic vectors.
 15. Themethod for automatically recognizing a license plate number of a subjectvehicle in use of a surveillance vehicle, which is applied to anautomatic license plate number recognition system, comprising steps of:(A) recognizing the subject vehicle on the run or in parking or stoppingwhich is located within a photographing range of a camera mounted to thesurveillance vehicle, and photographing the subject vehicle inclusive ofa license plate thereof through the camera; (B) extracting a licenseplate number of the subject vehicle based on photographing data of thesubject vehicle photographed by the camera; (C) receiving up-to-dateinformation on vehicles in question which is provided to a relatedprocessing institution computer from a server computer, after theextraction of the license plate number of the subject vehicle, accordingto whether a database provided for grasping whether the subject vehicleis in question is valid, and updating the database; (D) comparing theinformation on vehicles in question which is stored in the databasebased on the license plate number of the subject vehicle extracted froma surveillance part equipped in a surveillance vehicle and verifyingwhether the subject vehicle has a problem; (E) outputting characters ora voice, if the subject vehicle is not one in question, notifying fromthe surveillance part equipped in the surveillance vehicle that thesubject vehicle is not one in question for driver's or passenger'sidentifications; (F) determining whether the surveillance part equippedin the surveillance vehicle can deal with the subject vehicle if thesubject vehicle is one in question; (G) outputting characters or avoice, if the surveillance vehicle can deal with the subject vehicle inquestion, notifying from the surveillance part equipped in thesurveillance vehicle that the subject vehicle is one in question toenable a driver or a passenger to deal with the subject vehicle inquestion; and (H) notifying the related processing institution computerfrom the surveillance part equipped in the surveillance vehicle ofinformation on the subject vehicle through a portable communicationdevice, if the surveillance vehicle can not deal with the subjectvehicle in question, to enable dealing with the subject vehicle inquestion wherein the step (B) includes steps of: (B-1) extracting thelicense plate region of the subject vehicle based on the photographingdata inclusive of the license plate information of the subject vehiclephotographed by the camera; (B-2) extracting the individual characterregions from the extracted license plate region; (B-3) extractingcharacteristic vectors from the extracted respective individualcharacter regions; and (B-4) recognizing characters and numbers from thecharacteristic vectors extracted from the respective individualcharacter regions to identify the license plate number of the subjectvehicle.
 16. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the step (B-1)includes steps of: (B-1-1) acquiring an image for extracting the licenseplate region from the photographing data inclusive of the license plateinformation of the subject vehicle photographed by the camera; (B-1-2)down-sampling the image acquired from the step (B-1-1) to lower aresolution thereof for alleviation of an image deterioration bymovements of the camera; (B-1-3) configuring an image pyramid having adifferent spatial resolution from the down-sampled image for a selectionof a resolution suitable for the extraction of the license plate region;(B-1-4) converting a color level into a gray level in use of colorinformation of the license plate, after configuring the image pyramidhaving a different spatial resolution, and then converting into a binaryimage through a proper threshold value selection, producing a projectionimage in lengthwise and widthwise directions, and performing clusteringto extract a rectangular region in use of the lengthwise/widthwiseprojection image and an aspect ratio of length and width of the licenseplate; (B-1-5) determining whether a position and a size of the licenseplate region in the clustering-performed image are correct, andproceeding with the next step (B-2); and (B-1-6) producing left, right,up, and down position information of the camera and a zoom controlsignal, if the position and size of the license plate region in theclustering-performed image are not correct, and controlling the cameraby a control part of a surveillance part equipped in the surveillancevehicle.
 17. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the step (B-2)includes steps of: (B-2-1) converting into a gray level the licenseplate region extracted through the step (B-1); (B-2-2) applying ahorizontal histogram to the license plate region converted into the graylevel for separation into upper and lower portions; (B-2-3) applying avertical histogram to the license plate region separated into the upperand lower portions according to the horizontal histogram application toextract individual characters existing in the license plate region; and(B-2-4) digitizing through a proper threshold value selection theindividual characters extracted through the horizontal and verticalhistogram applications of the steps (B-2-2) and (B-2-3) and proceedingwith the next step (B-3).
 18. The method as claimed in claim 15, whereinthe step (B-3) includes steps of: (B-3-1) dividing in a verticaldirection each individual character of the license plate regionextracted through the step (B-2); (B-3-2) dividing each individualcharacter in a horizontal direction after the division of eachindividual character of the license plate region in the verticaldirection; (B-3-3) performing a 64-dimensional(8×8) mapping afterdividing respective individual characters of the license plate region inthe horizontal and vertical directions; and (B-3-4) normalizing valuesof the mapped respective individual characters, after the64-dimensional(8×8) mapping, to extract characteristic vectors.
 19. Themethod for automatically recognizing a license plate number of a subjectvehicle in use of a surveillance vehicle, which is applied to anautomatic license plate number recognition system, comprising steps of:(a) recognizing the subject vehicle on the run or in parking or stoppingwhich is located within a photographing range of a camera mounted to thesurveillance vehicle, and photographing the subject vehicle inclusive ofa license plate thereof through the camera; (b) transferring through thecommunication network to a server computer photographing data of thesubject vehicle photographed by the camera; (c) extracting a licenseplate number of the subject vehicle based on the photographing data ifthe server computer receives the photographing data of the subjectvehicle from the surveillance vehicle; (d) receiving, by the servercomputer, up-to-date information on vehicles in question from a relatedprocessing institution computer according to whether a database providedfor grasping whether the subject vehicle is in question is valid, andupdating the database; (e) comparing, by the server computer, theinformation on vehicles in question which is stored in the databasebased on the license plate number of the subject vehicle and verifyingwhether the subject vehicle has a problem; (f) notifying, by the servercomputer, the surveillance vehicle that the subject vehicle is not onein question, if the subject vehicle is not one in question; (g)determining,by the server computer, whether the surveillance vehicle candeal with the subject vehicle if the subject vehicle is one in question;(h) notifying, by the server computer, the surveillance vehicle that thesubject vehicle is one in question, to enable the dealing with thesubject vehicle in question, if the surveillance vehicle can deal withthe subject vehicle in question; and (i) notifying, by the servercomputer, the related processing institution computer of information onthe subject vehicle, if the surveillance vehicle can not deal with thesubject vehicle in question, to enable the dealing with the subjectvehicle in question, wherein the step (c) includes steos of: (c-1)extracting a license olate reaion of the subject vehicle based on thephotograghing data inclusive of license plate information of the subjectvehicle photographed by the camera; (c-2) extracting individualcharacter regions from the extracted license plate region; (c-3)extracting characteristic vectors from the extracted respectiveindividual character regions; and (c-4) recognizing characters andnumbers from the characteristic vectors extracted from the respectiveindividual character regions to identify the license plate number of thesubject vehicle.
 20. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the step(c-1) includes steps of: (c-1-1) acquiring an image for extracting thelicense plate region from the photographing data inclusive of thelicense plate information of the subject vehicle photographed by thecamera; (c-1-2) down-sampling the image acquired from the step (c-1-1)to lower a resolution thereof for alleviation of an image deteriorationby movements of the camera; (c-1-3) configuring an image pyramid havinga different spatial resolution from the down-sampled image for aselection of a resolution suitable for the extraction of the licenseplate region; (c-1-4) converting a color level into a gray level in useof color information of the license plate, after configuring the imagepyramid having a different spatial resolution, and then converting intoa binary image through a proper threshold value selection, producing aprojection image in lengthwise and widthwise directions, and performingclustering to extract a rectangular region in use of thelengthwise/widthwise projection image and an aspect ratio of length andwidth of the license plate; (c-1-5) determining whether a position and asize of the license plate region in the clustering-performed image arecorrect, and proceeding with the next step (c-2); and (c-1-6) producingleft, right, up, and down position information of the camera and a zoomcontrol signal, if the position and size of the license plate region inthe clustering-performed image are not correct, and controlling thecamera by a control part of a surveillance part equipped in thesurveillance vehicle.
 21. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein thestep (c-2) includes steps of: (c-2-1) converting into a gray level thelicense plate region extracted through the step (c-1); (c-2-2) applyinga horizontal histogram to the license plate region converted into thegray level for separation into upper and lower portions; (c-2-3)applying a vertical histogram to the license plate region separated intothe upper and lower portions according to the horizontal histogramapplication to extract individual characters existing in the licenseplate region; and (c-2-4) digitizing through a proper threshold valueselection the individual characters extracted through the horizontal andvertical histogram applications of the steps (c-2-2) and (c-2-3) andproceeding with the next step (c-3).
 22. The method as claimed in claim19, wherein the step (c-3) includes steps of: (c-3-1) dividing in avertical direction each individual character of the license plate regionextracted through the step (c-2); (c-3-2) dividing each individualcharacter in a horizontal direction after the division of eachindividual character of the license plate region in the verticaldirection; (c-3-3) performing a 64-dimensional(8×8) mapping afterdividing respective individual characters of the license plate region inthe horizontal and vertical directions; and (c-3-4) normalizing valuesof the mapped respective individual characters, after the64-dimensional(8×8) mapping, to extract characteristic vectors.